The city’s assault on sodium starts Tuesday with a new rule that’s the first of its kind in the country — requiring chain restaurants to warn customers about dishes loaded with salt.
Eateries with 15 or more locations nationwide now have until March 1 to revamp their menus to include small salt-shaker emblems next to items with more than 2,300 mg of sodium, the recommended daily limit.
The average American exceeds the daily recommendation by 40 percent, according to City Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett.
“Many New Yorkers are not aware of the connection between sodium and high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack — the leading causes of death in our city and our nation,” Bassett explained at a press conference inside the Times Square Applebee’s.
“So this new sodium-warning label, which you’ll see going up around the city on menus and menu boards beginning tomorrow, will make people aware of that.”
Many of the city’s chain restaurants offer decadent entrees with sodium levels far exceeding the recommended daily limit — and some are even loaded with more than twice that much.
Applebee’s already added the warning icon to its menus on Nov. 1 — though some customers are still a little confused by the symbol.
“We had no idea what they were,” said Heather Berry, 44, of Long Island, who evidently didn’t read an explanation of the new icons at the bottom of the menu. “My body responds to sodium in a negative way. I wish I had known!”
Others said they’d still order sodium-laden dishes — but are now thinking twice about adding additional salt on their own.
“I think it’s a great initiative,” said Michelle Gabe, 30, of Swansea, Wales. “We were still going to order whatever we wanted anyway, but it definitely made me rethink reaching for the salt shaker.”
But while several people lauded the Health Department’s initiative, a few salt lovers said they’d rather stay in the dark about what’s lurking in their food.
“I don’t want to know!” exclaimed Diana Rodriguez, 23, a student from The Bronx.
“That’s way too little. I probably sprinkle that much extra already.”
Mayor de Blasio admitted Monday he’s also “sinned” by consuming too much salt.
“I have to say in my ancestral cuisine, there’s a lot of salt,” he said when asked about his own sodium consumption. “And I was brought up with a lot of salt. Luckily, Chirlane is very, very adamant about reducing the use of salt, so my hand has been slapped many times.”